Taking Time
by LMichelle98
Summary: Rhen decides to live as a hermit, but after 3 months, she gets a letter from Dameon. The Oracle got sucked into the Sword Of Shadows and now they only have 2 choices- leave the world without the Oracle, or releasing her together with the other demons that got sucked in... RhenxLars


_Chapter 1_

She didn't care, nor did she have any strength left to care. The sweet and luring fragrance of the pine trees surrounding her had become the most normal and dull thing in Rhen's days. She spent her days in almost complete silence if it wasn't for the chirping insects and birds. Was living the life of a hermit really something for her? Rhen never stopped doubting her decision. She perked up so her back was lining up with the wooden cottage wall, again gazing at the wall of pine trees. Outside, the air felt lighter than the thick and heavy air inside the wooden, damp cottage. Living here was almost near suffocating, but as the days passed, she just stopped caring. She'd stare her day away hoping that one day, the same wall of pine trees opened up and showed her _something _, preferably something amazing. The forest breeze went through her lavender locks, fluttering them around her cheeks. She had undone her braid, for she didn't do anything that required having her hair out of her way. Rhen kept sighing continuously. Tomorrow, it would have been 3 months after she and her friends had defeated Ahriman, once and for all.

She closed her eyes. Had it really _just_ been 3 months? It felt like she had been here for _ages._ She had been so tired that she couldn't think rationally anymore. What the hell happened? She asked herself after locking up the Sword of Shadows again. She had a peaceful life, to be disturbed by a weird woman with her stupid ring. And because of that ring, she'd been sold as a slave to work for the worst people ever!

Ugh, Lars. He had become nicer and nicer, but even after his apology, it kept nagging her, biting her, like mice seeing cheese as a living prey.  
She went journeying finding druids and their souls, fighting various strong demons. Her party was filled with a brat, Lars, a vampire, a woman with too many husbands, a pirate- it kept circling through her head, how weird it had been.  
She liked a Sun Priest, but if it wasn't for the Fairy Dust, he would have been on the wrong side till the bitter end. Dameon...

Oh, and then the worst- it turned out she was a freaking princess.  
The parents she had loved for years- they weren't even her real parents!

Rhen sighed and slapped her cheeks to give herself a wake-up call.

She closed her eyes again, but she was a little more cheered up by the bad thoughts leaving her mind.  
'Just don't think about it Rhen!' She said in a loud voice, to any willing person to hear in the deafening sound of silence.

The breeze once again stroked her hair tenderly. Rhen opened her eyes and sighed again.  
She saw a big shadow covering the ground.

She jumped up. What was that!? Wavering while getting to a stable position on her foot, she looked up, trailing the big silhouette of an enormous bird.

The bird circled above her head in the blue sky. Could it be _that_ bird? It made no sense. They don't leave the mountain!  
Rhen quickly picked up the axe near her. She didn't have her sword here outside. Silently swearing, she hoped the bird would just fly away, but instead, it made a nosedive down.  
The King Ravwyrn, with it's majestic green feathers, landed before her cottage. The sweat dripped slowly from Rhen's neck, afraid- if she ran inside to get her sword, the bird would probably destroy her home before she even had a chance. But now, she only had a pitiable axe.  
But the bird did nothing, and it seemed like it was waiting for something. That's when Rhen saw it- around it's neck, a leather collar with a small closed vessel. Was the bird a messenger?

Who the heck would take such a large messenger? Rhen thought agitated.

Nonetheless, Rhen cautiously approached the bird. It turned its head like a pigeon, like it was wondering what Rhen was doing. She let a small sigh escape, while staring at the eyes of the bird. They blinked. Convinced this bird was as a tame as could be, she quickly removed the vessel from the neck. A small letter fell out. Curiously, Rhen looked at the back of the letter. It was from Dameon!

Forgetting everything she thought just earlier, Rhen excitedly opened the letter, to feel the excitement drop to her shoes the moment after.

_Dear Rhen,_

_I have terrible news._

Not the best words to begin a letter with after all this time, Dameon! While reading, Rhen walked inside completely forgetting the bird, and grabbed a chair.

_A big accident has happened. The Oracle came here to the shrine in Aveyond, to check the Sword of Shadows._  
_She said she felt a dark presence lingering, however impossible it may sound._  
_Rhen, I didn't think more of it than just the Oracle checking the Sword, but she didn't come out._  
_When I decided to look if something was amiss, she was not there._  
_I don't know how, but the Oracle got sucked into the Sword of Shadows. _  
_The only one I have faith in right now is you, my dear Rhen. The world is in danger if we don't have the Oracle here to protect us!_  
_Do we have another option? Please come to Aveyond as soon as possible. I need you._

_Forever yours,_  
_Dameon_

Rhen felt her knees growing soft. The information slowly sank in. He must be joking... Right?  
No matter at what way she looked at the letter, what was written did not change. She went with her hand through her hair, looking at the letter unbelievably.

_Do we have another option?_

She knew what he meant. But that also meant that very powerful demons would once again, roam free in the World. She hit the table with her fist.  
Just 3 months. That's all whatever peace they would get before Ahriman would be free _again,_ for the third time.  
It was ridiculous.

But just that sentence.

He meant breaking the Sword of Shadows.

Rhen bit her lip. She felt doubt arise, as she turned the letter again. There was no other text, and actually she felt like she should have been thankful for that. At least no more bad news.  
She looked out of the window. The bird was looking around quite curiously, as if he had never seen a pine tree. So careless, so free.

There was no time for doubt now, and she knew that. She had had 3 months to be careless and free and it didn't do her much good.  
She knew. What was coming would be difficult and hard. But it would also mean she had an excuse to journey the world.  
To find new trust into the world she had left.  
While taking a deep breath, she stood tall again.

She had decided.

After sending a letter back with the bird who flew away almost immediately, Rhen rapidly changed into her Sword Singer outfit. She braided her hair and felt for once in a while, like her life had a goal again.  
The power that that gave her was great. At last, she took her sword and ran out of the cottage, into the Wild Woods.

What had she been worrying about? This was her life. Journeying. She smiled and went on running, with her regained pride.

* * *

'Get off, you stupid bee!', Rhen yelled as she cut the bee in 2 pieces. She was near Teacup Town, so that also meant she was close to the Sun Temple.  
She giggled. The bees reminded her of the first time she was here in Aveyond, when only Lars had joined her in her quest.  
How she hated him then, and how much she laughed at the disgusted face of the rich mommy's boy who had just seen a large bee's intestines after Rhen cut it up.  
Thinking about those little exchanges of thoughts between them always made Rhen cheer up somehow.

Quickly, Rhen ascended the wooden stairs. She remembered always making a game out of it. If you were quick enough, the bees couldn't attack the person in the front.  
On the other hand, ascending a stairs with a skirt and Lars under you...  
She felt nostalgic. Not that Lars would've ever wanted to look at Rhen like that, but it made her laugh every time.

At the end of the stairs, she already saw Dameon, standing in front of the temple, with next to him the Ravwyrn, taking a nap in the sun.

"Dameon!", Rhen called out to Dameon, as he was staring at the clouds, absently stroking the feathers of the bird.

Dameon immediately turned his head to face Rhen in the distance.

"Rhen!", Dameon rushed over, "Dear one, I have waited for you!"

Rhen ignored the 'dear one' part. Surely, he did not still love her right? Although the message was also signed with 'yours truly'. She shook her head to forget the thought and looked at Dameon.

"What happened to you, Dameon?", Rhen asked worried when she saw his face. She squinted her eyes. Dark circles had taken over the last bit of youth the man had.

Dameon shook his head. "There is no time for chatting, my dear. We need to think about what to do." He escorted Rhen inside, looking around anxiously as if any suspicious person was going to jump from behind a tree.

Inside, Dameon looked at the blue door where the sword was behind, with Rhen still in the dooropening.

Rhen cleared her throat. "You're not really thinking about breaking the Sword, right?", she asked carefully.

Dameon did not answer.  
Nervously, Rhen shuffled around a bit.

"...You understand what happens when we break the sword, I presume." Dameon said, looking strangely calm from behind.

"Off course I do. That's why we definitely can't break it." Rhen answered, mumbling the last part.

"You don't understand Rhen!" Dameon suddenly snarled as he turned around. He sounded distressed, and his eyes were wide open.

Rhen was startled by his sudden yelling, but pitied him and put a hand on his shoulder. It was not like him to yell at her. "You need to take a break Dameon. We need to think this over when we're calm." She looked at his face. He looked white as a sheet of paper. She continued: "And right now, you don't seem calm at all. What happened to you?" She asked again. "You look like crap."

"I know Rhen. I know." Dameon rubbed his face with his hands. "I can't stop thinking about how it's my fault. I should've gone with the Oracle when she said something was wrong!"

Rhen didn't really know how to respond. Maybe he was right, but she knew she would've done the same. It's the Oracle. If there's someone who knows what they're doing...  
There was no way that just the two of them could solve this problem, she thought. If only Lars had been here with one of his smart ideas. This would concern the whole world.

The world...

"That's it, Dameon!", she exclaimed after some silence. "We should send letters to all the cities about what their thoughts are on this matter."

Dameon thought deeply, frowning his brows.

"No." He said bluntly.

Rhen pouted a little. It was a good idea, and she hoped it would cheer him up a little, but he banned it out like that.

"If we do this, we don't have to shoulder this problem alone, you understand that? If we would end up breaking the sword, then the cities know what is waiting for them. They can protect themselves in time, and we don't have to worry."

Dameon scowled. "There's no way mere cities can defend against those in the sword. They're better of without knowing."

Rhen put up one brow. "Are you serious? That's like we are the one attacking because we wouldn't let them in." She averted her eyes from Dameon. "Something like this is too important to let all these people in the dark." She said while looking at her sword, reminding her of the old journey.

Dameon shook his head. "We don't have time for that Rhen! We need the Oracle now."

Rhen sighed. "Then tell me, what are we going to do with those demons after she has been freed? We can't fight them now!"

Once again, Dameon rubbed his face. No answer.  
Rhen crossed her arms, not waiting any longer.  
"I'm going to write these letters Dameon," she said while getting a little bit irritated. She paused before continuing again, "Please trust me. You asked me too, right? You had faith in me." She tried to make eye contact. He just stood there, drowning in his own fears. Rhen knew she had to be strong for his sake, and put on a fake smile while running her hand through her bangs.

And she knew, that if she asked the cities... She would maybe regain some of her pride that she lost while living as a hermit.  
Dameon still kept his silence, and refused to look Rhen in her eyes. It made Rhen itchy- and she decided it was best for him to just look at her, straight. She walked up to him, took Dameon's face in her hands and gave him her smile, although his face still looked scared. At least he now looked at her.  
"You just wait here, and I will go write the letters in Teacup Town. I'll be back in say, half an hour. Is that okay?" Rhen said with an almost nurturing voice.

Dameon nodded, and Rhen let go of his face.

"Great." She winked at him, to make him feel better,

"I love you, dear Rhen." Dameon mumbled.

Rhen's heart skipped a beat. She didn't love him. Not anymore.  
It certainly didn't seem like the time to tell him that either. "Just remember that." She said while giving him one last glance, trying to cheer him up, and she left before he could change his mind.

Teacup Town was just a 3 minute walk, and the Bini's were so kind to get her parchment and a quill as quick as they could. She was at the mayor's house to write the letters. The mayor kept rambling on about something, but Rhen did not give him her attention. It was hard enough to write the letters. She had made around 7 drafts, groaning after almost each one because it seemed too simple if you write it down. Dusk was falling and Rhen decided to wrap it up, after copying her last letter for the umpteenth time. The half hour had become 2 hours, and she was still feeling pity for the frightened Dameon.

Back at the temple, the ravwyrn had woken up and playfully scurried over to Rhen, trying to get her to pat him.  
She neatly wrapped up all the letters in the vessel and put them on the collar. She patted the bird and after thankfully enjoying it, it understood his order. He flew up, and Rhen watched the bird fly away from the cliffs in the purple and pink coloring sky from dusk falling in.

She took a deep breath and wanted to turn around when a gigantic roar came from inside the temple.  
Being startled Rhen lost her balance and fell on the ground.

"Dameon? She muttered.

The roaring just went on and on, and Rhen quickly jumped up and ran inside the Sun Temple.

Dameon lifted the Sword of Shadows up.

"NO! Dameon, DON'T!" Rhen screamed, but it was too late.

The Sword of Shadows shattered on the ground, like it had been from glass, leaving pieces all over, turning the air around her into a thick substance.  
Chills ran down her spine and she ducked on the ground after a whirlwind of purple colored magic filled the area and escaped through the front and via the windows, breaking them.  
"Dameon WHY!?" Rhen screamed, after the magic had disappeared. There was no answer, except for one thing..

"Rhen Pendragon. I am relieved to see you so soon, dear."

Rhen looked up. The Oracle was standing before her, confirming that indeed, demons had once again gone into the world, too early.


End file.
